1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of accessories for inflatable water vessels having vessel floors such as inflatable canoes, rafts and kayaks, and more specifically to a seat for placing on the floor of such a vessel, the seat including a cushion on top of a box portion which has a door and serves as a storage compartment, and which has holes in the lower corners of its front and rear walls and two parallel pipe sections which are fit through these holes when preparing the seat for use, for distributing the weight of the seat and seat occupant over a wide area of the vessel floor, to prevent the seat from bowing the floor downward and distorting the shape of the vessel, and which are slid out of the holes when preparing the seat for storage, the seat additionally including a back rest panel and soft tubular cushion members attached to the panel front face, the panel lower edge being joined to the box with hinges to pivot against the top of the box when the seat is to be stored, the back rest panel preferably including semicircular tubular members attached to the panel rear face with ends directed upward for receiving the handle of at least one fishing rod.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There have long been seats in inflatable boats, canoes and kayaks. These seats have generally been permanently attached to the rest of the boat during manufacture so that repositioning or removal is not possible. Conventional chairs and stools are not well suited to this use because they distribute weight over a small area, and thus can bow, distort or actually puncture the floor of the craft.
Hull, U.S. Pat. No. 5,101,753, issued on Apr. 7, 1992, teaches an attachable seat for an inflatable boat. Cross-members deliver the weight of the seat and compartment primarily onto the sides rather than the floor of the boat. A vertical brace member extends to the floor of the boat, but fails to distribute the load over the floor, and is intended to rest on a wooden deck. Thus, this structure is not well suited to soft bottom rafts and canoes. The fishing rod holders are merely half rings, and would not support and hold a rod securely.
Goldsmith, U.S. Pat. No. 4,854,261, issued on Aug. 8, 1989, discloses a boat seat including cushions resting on a box. The bottom of the box itself presents the surface area to distribute the load, but this area appears insufficient for the weight of the seat and occupant for use on a soft bottom boat. Adding to this weight are a sink, a water supply tank and a cooler contained within the box.
Cantwell, U.S. Pat. No. 3,935,607, issued on Feb. 3, 1976, reveals an inflatable boat having inflated tubular walls and a bottom portion. The Cantwell seats rest on the tubular walls rather than on the bottom, and all that the text states about the seats is that they may be attached in a suitable manner to side sections. They do not appear to be removable or otherwise transferable.
Grimes, U.S. Pat. No. 3,839,757, issued on Oct. 8, 1974, discloses a fishing boat seat assembly including a box having on each side two hinged support rods supporting a seat. The seat can swing upward on the rods and toward the rear of a boat for fishing, and then downward and toward the front of the boat for other uses. The box defines a lower compartment for dry storage and an upper compartment for use as a depth finder housing. The seat swings above the top compartment to reach the fishing position. The problem presented by Goldsmith is again presented. The bottom edges of the box do not sufficiently spread the weight of the seat and occupant for use on a soft bottom boat.
Woodruff, U.S. Pat. No. 3,099,482, issued on Jul. 30, 1963 and Rorie, U.S. Pat. No. 2,971,568, issued on Feb. 14, 1961, once again disclose seats having heavy box base members intended for use on hard bottom boats. And, once again, the weight distribution appears inadequate for use on soft bottom boats.
Wayne, U.S. Pat. No. 2,522,910, issued on Sep. 19, 1950, teaches a collapsible boat having a series of ribs connected by an upper rim and lower belts and having a rigid, folding keel. The Wayne seats fit over the rigid keel and use the keel for support. A problem with Wayne is that the keel is a preexisting part of the boat not found on inflatable vessels, and the seats themselves provide no effective weight distribution.
It is thus an object of the present invention to provide a removable, transferrable seat for an inflatable vessel which distributes the weight of the seat and occupant widely over the floor of the vessel to minimize vessel deformation.
It is another object of the present invention to provide such a seat which includes secure fishing rod holders.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide such a seat which includes a storage compartment for fishing implements and food items.
It is finally an object of the present invention to provide such a seat which is simple in design and inexpensive to manufacture.